Reading Conflicting Maps
IAFS/JWST 3650
Announcements
• Office hours today: 12:45-2:45pm
• Prof. Claudia Koonz, “Islamophobia in Three
Shapes: the Muslim Headscarf in France,
Britain, and Germany” (17 Jan, 5pm, HLMS
252)
• Prof. Deborah Lipstadt, "The Impact of the
Eichmann Trial: A Perspective After 50 Years"
(Fri 25 Jan, 11am, UMC 235)
Outline
• How to read a map
• Conflicting maps of Israel/Palestine
• Quiz prep
Introduction
• Maps’ contribution to conflicting narratives
• Need to “read” maps for bias, etc
• What do maps tell us about Arab-Israeli
conflict?
How to Read a Map
• Production
• Content
• Reception
Map Reading Methodology
• Map as text
• Can be read for contemporary attitudes and
beliefs
Map Reading Methodology
• Production:
– Author/publisher
– Sources of info
– Historical context
Map Reading Methodology
• Content:
– Decoration
– Depiction of boundary lines
– Themes
Map Reading Methodology
• Reception
– Audience
– Expense and availability
– Function and use
Reading Maps of Israel and Palestine
• Themes:
– Sacred claims to territory
– Erasure
– Palestinian homeland(s)
– Weapons
– Vulnerability
Israeli and Palestinian Territory
Sacred Claims
to Territory
(Palestinian)
• Dome of the Rock
(Muslim shrine in
Jerusalem)
• Site also sacred
to Christians and
Jews
Fatah Poster
(1992)
Sacred Claims
to Territory
(Palestinian)
• Map overlies
Christian cross
PLO Poster
(1997)
Sacred Claims
to Territory
(Zionist)
• God’s Biblical
promise to Abraham:
“I will give this land
to your
descendants.”
(Genesis 12:7)
Government of Israel
Poster (~1980)
Erasure (Zionist Views)
• “Palestinian Maps Omitting Israel”
– Zionist website criticizes images that
“ignor[e] the existence of the State of
Israel”
– Collection of maps from Palestinian
textbooks, political propaganda, art, etc
Erasure
(Arab Views)
• Crumpled map
Iraqi
Cultural Center
Poster
(1979)
Erasure
(Arab Views)
• Map of Israel
covering/torn away
from map of
Palestine
Fatah Poster
(1989)
Palestinian
Homeland(s)
(Zionist Views)
• Argues that
Palestinians can find
homes in Jordan
Embassy of Israel (US)
Poster (~1984)
Palestinian
Homeland(s)
(Zionist Views)
• Argues that Jordan is
the state for
Palestinians
Unknown
[Zionist?] source (~1993)
Palestinian
Homeland(s)
(Palestinian Views)
• “60 years of nakba
[catastrophe]”
• Key symbolizes “right
of return”
• Central image of
Dome of the Rock
Palestinian Artist
Abd Almouty Abozaid
(2008)
Palestinian
Homeland(s)
(Palestinian Views)
• “From all directions
we will return.”
Palestinian Artist
Waleed Idrees (~1985)
Weapons
(Zionist)
• “Etzel” = acronym for
Irgun, Zionist
paramilitary group
• Features rifle in
clenched fist
• Map includes
Palestine and
Transjordan
• “Only Thus” below
Irgun Emblem (1930s-1940s)
map
Weapons
(Zionist)
• “Only thus” translated
here as “the sole
solution”
Irgun Poster (~1935)
Weapons
(Zionist)
• “The war loan – to
defeat the enemy –
to establish borders”
• Variation on fist and
rifle
• Less focus on Jordan
Government of Israel
Poster (1952)
Weapons
(Zionist)
• “With one hand on a
weapon and one at
work” (Nehemiah
4:17)
• Rifle linked to
agricultural
implements
• Map focus on Israel
Histadrut Poster (1954)
Weapons
(Palestinian)
• “For the sake of our
land and our children
we joined the
Palestine Liberation
Army”
PLO Poster (~1964)
Weapons
(Palestinian)
• “Popular Front for
the Liberation of
Palestine”
PFLP Poster (~1969)
Weapons
(Palestinian)
• “Eleven years on the
path towards
triumph”
• Map of Palestine and
map of Arab
countries
• Palestinian flag
staked at Jerusalem
Fatah Poster (1976)
Weapons
(Palestinian)
• “Palestine”
• Reference to “Al
Quds”[Jerusalem]
Source unknown (~1985)
Weapons
(Palestinian)
• “Hamas”
• Rifle tied to land by
Palestinian flag
• Dome of the Rock
inside heart inside
keffiyeh (scarf
associated with
Palestinian
resistance)
Hamas Poster (1993)
Vulnerability
(Israeli)
• “Growth under
Siege”
• Depicts Israel under
attack from all sides
• Perceived threats
from land, sea, & air
Mapai Poster
(early 1950s)
Christine Leuenberger and Izhak Schnell,“The politics of maps: Constructing national territories in Israel”
Social Studies of Science 40:6 (Dec 2010) 813-814.
Vulnerability
(Israeli)
• “Likud will prevent
this! 2.5 million
Israelis are within firing
range if an ‘Arafat
state’ is founded.”
• Depicts serious threat
due to Israel’s lack of
strategic depth
Likud Election Poster (1981)
Christine Leuenberger and Izhak Schnell,“The politics of maps: Constructing national territories in Israel”
Social Studies of Science 40:6 (Dec 2010) 823-825.
Vulnerability (Palestinian)
• “Loss of
Land”
over time
Original source unknown (2000s, revised 2010)
Vulnerability (Palestinian)
• “Map of
occupation”
coupled with
iconic
images
• Roughly
same dates
as previous
poster
Original source unknown (2007)
Vulnerability (Palestinian)
• “Stealing of
Pal. Land by
the Zionist
State”
• Emphatic
coloring
Original source unknown (2009)
Vulnerability
(Israeli)
• Size comparisons to
European and South
American countries,
and the US and US
states (plus Turkey
and India)
Israel Ministry of
Foreign Affairs
Website (2013)
Vulnerability
(Israeli)
• Size comparisons
emphasize Israel’s
smallness
Israel Ministry of
Foreign Affairs
Website (2013)
Vulnerability
(Israeli)
• “Israel is tiny! . . . .
Imagine living in
New Jersey while
most people living
in the other 49
states want to see
you destroyed.”
Zionist PR Firm
Poster (~2004)
Conclusions
• Maps used by range of Israeli and Palestinian
groups to convey their arguments
• Images of the same (or roughly the same)
territory or iconography can be used to
support opposing arguments
• Groups on both sides address both internal
and external audiences
Conclusions
• Hobsbawm:
– Many national symbols are “invented
traditions”
– Invented traditions use history as
legitimator
Conclusions
• Nations claim to be natural and ancient, but
are constructed and new
• Maps help construct the nation
Quiz Prep:
Citation Format Section
• Chicago Manual of Style (available via
Chinook)
• Footnotes
• For citation formatting questions, consult the
Chicago Manual.
Key Elements of Citation
(either footnote or bibliography)
• Book: author, title, place of publication,
publisher, pub date
• Journal Article: author, article title,
journal title, volume, number (if avail),
year, first and last pages of article
Footnotes also include specific page for citation
Examples of Academic Dishonesty
(see Honor Code for definitions)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
plagiarism
cheating
fabrication
aid of academic dishonesty
lying
bribery
threat
Quiz Prep:
Map Section
• Format:
– Two outline maps
– Ten place-names total
– Recommended
references: Israel, Old
City Jerusalem, and West
Bank and Gaza maps
Quiz Prep:
Place-names
• Ashdod, Bethlehem, Gaza City, Haifa,
Jaffa/Yafa, Jenin, Jerusalem, Nazareth,
Ramallah, Rehovot, Tel Aviv
• Gaza Strip, Golan Heights, Jordan River,
West Bank
• Al-Aqsa Mosque, Church of the Holy
Sepulchre, Dome of the Rock,
Western/Wailing Wall
Studying for the Quiz
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•
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Chicago citation format
Citation elements
Definitions of academic dishonesty
Map place-names